A Silver Series
by LionShark
Summary: A Series of various interactions between Hyotei's famous Silver Pair!
1. Post National Quaterfinals Match

A/N: Greetings everybody. I've started up writing again after a long break due to school (which is about to start yet again so I'm still unsure of why I particularly picked now to return...). As I've completely forgotten my old account details, you've probably noticed that this is a fresh, new one (appropriate as this will be the first POT story/drabble that I've written). Recently became obsessed with this pair yet again so hope you enjoy!

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1 : Post National Quaterfinals Match

The air was thick with disappointment. Feet trudged along the dirt path back to the bus while heads all looked down in shame and anguish. Yet again they had been narrowly edged out of the competition by their arch rival school Seigaku. Not even Oshitari or Shishido could muster up a witty or snarky comment about their beloved captain's new hairstyle. The latter however still took it upon his shoulder the responsibility of encouraging his miserable partner.

"Hey Choutarou" he called to the sullen junior next to him. Said junior lifted his head up to respond to his senpai.

"Yes Shishido-san?" he meekly replied.

"You know your determination near the end of our doubles match there was impressive. We would've never pulled out that win if you hadn't whipped out those nasty scud serves near the end. Your arm's ok though right?"

Otori smiled a bit at his partner's attempts to cheer him up. "Oh… thanks. Yeah my arm's ok. It wasn't that bad of an injury. Plus I was only motivated by your drive to win at the end. It wouldn't have been right for me to hold anything back after you still gave it your all then."

Leave it to the ridiculously humble and respectful Ootori to bounce back a compliment like that. Shishido had to settle for a grunt for lack of a better thought-out response. As the other regulars also began to follow suit in breaking the silent tension in the air, Shishido continued to shuffle next to his quiet kohai. As they reached the bus he spoke again,

"Choutarou."

"Mmm?" Otori barely responded at Shisido's second attempt despite his rather dreadful mood.

"I was just thinking – you know you're the only regular left who has actually never lost an official match? Technically you should be the only person who can rightfully hold his regular spot now." Shishido remarked as he stepped onto the bus behind a now chattering Mukahi.

Otori stopped behind him, stunned as he began to process what he was just told. He grinned when he realized it was true; not even the magnificent Atobe lived up to the strict Hyotei standards anymore. He immediately felt guilty about taking even the slightest pleasure at Atobe's defeat, but he still couldn't force down the beaming grin on his face as he took his seat next to an equally satisfied and successfully smirking Shishido.

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Looking forward to uploading more if there's demand for it! Until next time


	2. Pre Nationals Training

A/N: Second chapter! I wasn't nearly as satisfied with it as my first but I hope it's still not too off par. Enjoy!

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2: Pre National Training

"Ik – kyu – nyu – KON!"

A ball flashed past Shishido's line of sight… and straight into the net. Otori groaned in disappointment as Shishido, on the side bench, checked the speed gun in his hand.

"202 kph! A solid serve Choutarou! Your average speeds are steadily increasing!"

"Ahh… but the most important part still isn't there.." the tall silver haired boy shyly replied.

"Don't worry. The control will naturally come after enough practice. Just remember to keep good grip posture as you swing through." Shishido smiled confidently. 202 kph was already above the national tournament record and only slightly slower than Choutaro's current best: a whopping 208 he whipped out during a tough practice match against Oshitari and Mukahi. True, he still faulted from time to time, especially when doing drills to aim at the far end of the court, but his bad wrist kneading habit was slowly fading away.

Otori nodded at the encouragement and tossed another ball into the air.

"Ik – kyu – nyu – KON!" Another ball whizzed by Shishido and smacked straight into the empty tennis can on the far opposite side of the service box. Otori broke into a huge grin as Shishido leaped from the bench and fist pumped in triumph.

"ALL RIGHT! YOU DID IT! That was awesome!" He excitedly checked the speed gun which flashed a bright 208 on the display. "And you tied your personal best too!"

"Oh it was just a fluke." Otori calmly responded though he was still sporting an equally excited look on his face as his doubles partner. "I've got to practice being able to nail my serves like that every time."

"Then let's get to it! Those bastards from Seigaku won't be able to rely on gimmicky positioning tricks anymore to evade your wicked Scud Serve now!" Shishido cried as he dashed over to the other side of the court to set up the can again. Otori smiled. He wouldn't tell his senpai because he'd probably just get a flustered "Wh-what? Man that's super lame!" in response, but he loved how Shishido would get even more excited than Otori himself at any small success Otori made during their training. Shishido never even got this hyped up at any of his own brilliant dashes or counters. Otori prepared another ball from his pocket as Shishido gestured for him to go again, gripping the speed gun in anticipation.

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"DAMN YOU RYOU, GIVE THAT BACK TO ME!" A redhead leaped into the air as a laughing Shishido dodged backwards and continued to loudly read the cellphone in his hand.

"Gakuto, please buy some milk on your way home from practice today. I know you hate it but you have to keep drinking it so you can keep growing into an even more handsome young man!"

"Look at that! Even your mother thinks you're too short!" Shishido howled as Mukahi turned a deep red.

"Gakuto please don't moon salute in the locker room." Oshitari fatiguely moaned as he changed out of his regular jersey.

"YUUSHI! AREN'T YOU EVEN GOING TO HELP ME?!" the redhead angrily replied as he prepared to tackle down Shishido. Alas, it was a too kind for his own good Otori that came to Mukahi's rescue.

"Shishido-san.. he bashfully began, "I don't mean to pretentiously scold you or anything… but it isn't polite to snoop into others' personal belongings".

"Awww come on Choutarou. I'm just having some rightfully deserved fun."

Otori was silent at this but still sported a mildly disapproving look on his face. Shishido sighed "All right. All right" and defeatedly tossed the phone to Mukahi, who immediately began to hurl petty insults at the capped teen. Said teen merely picked up his tennis bag as he walked out and began to chatter with a now content and eagerly listening Otori.

As Mukahi turned to direct his short little rage at the passive tensai who had merely stood by and ignored his predicament, Oshitari smirked and idly remarked to no one in particular (as Mukahi was too into his little fit to listen), "Interesting how Otori's biggest problem with his serve is his control... since he pretty much has complete control over Hyotei's biggest, uncontrollable hothead."


	3. Post Training Meal

A/N: Back with another installment! I had to make several revisions to this one and the end product was far from what I had hoped but I couldn't bring myself to delete it... So without further ado...

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3: Post-Practice Meal

_I have to tell him! I have to!_ Otori was furiously staring at the ground as his palms sweated by his sides. His doubles partner casually sat across from him eating his meal, oblivious to his kohai's near-panic attack across from him.

_He'll understand! I know he will! Shishido-san wouldn't get upset or think it's lame or anything… _Otori continued to mentally battle himself as he dreadfully looked at the untouched food sitting in front of him.

_This is ridiculous! I just have to say something! _Just as Otori opened his mouth to speak, Shishido looked up and off-handedly asked,

"Hey why haven't you touched any of your food yet? Do you not like it?"

Otori cursed himself realizing he was too late to avoid Shishido's suspicion.

"Oh… no! That's not it…" he weakly replied. _I can't believe of all things he could pick he had to choose this…_

Otori couldn't believe himself either.

When Shishido had suggested they try a different place after practice he had eagerly agreed. Since he didn't know much about the restaurant he asked his senpai to order for him. He immediately regretted that decision as they approached the front and Shishido ordered the peanut-crusted chicken of all things. Who even puts peanuts on fried chicken? Was that some weird American fad that infested its way into Japan? He attempted to speak then but watched in horror as he couldn't get himself to object to Shishido's decision. He was so glad Oshitari-sempai wasn't here to knowingly witness his misery (especially after he joked despite Otori's humiliation at practice that he so smitten by Shishido's "dashingly good looks" that he couldn't ever say "No" to him)

Fast forward a few minutes and here he was in one of the most awkward positions he's been in weeks.

"Ummm…" Otori tried again.

"What? You don't like it do you? It's ok you can tell me that I picked something stupid and that my taste is lame and whatever…" Shishido sheepishly mumbled.

"No no it seems great! It's just that…"

"Yeah?" the senior prompted

"Uhhh… I'm allergic to nuts Shishido-san…"

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Here's to hoping that the next one is much better... Please still leave a review/favorite/follow!


	4. Post National Quaterfinals Celebration

A/N: Sorry for the late update! Gekidasa Daze eh? Anyhow hope you enjoy! As always, critiques, reviews, favs, follows, etc. are more than welcome! I appreciate and am motivated by every single one!

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4: Post-Nationals Quaterfinals Celebration (AU)

Shishido growled as he sat across the table from a radiating Atobe who looked far too satisfied for his own good. He knew he should've refused when he saw Atobe's limo pulling up to his doorstep this morning as Hyotei's King fabulously rolled down his window and called,

"Get in, idiot. Ore-sama has generously arranged for the whole team to go out and celebrate Ore-sama's magnificent performance yesterday in upsetting the top seed Seigaku for our spot to the semi-finals."

He scowled as the memory came flowing back to him. Not to be petty or anything, but he had won too damn it and it was super lame how Atobe made it sound like he carried the entire victory on his shoulders! It didn't help that loads of non-regular members came flocking up to their King and shamelessly heaping praise on his now sparkling self.

Otori turned to his partner sitting next to him and knowingly smiled when he saw Shishido huff at yet another freshman coming to gawk at the amazing captain that was Atobe-sama. Not even the image of the humiliated, cheeky Seigaku freshman Echizen trying desperately to hide his gleaming bald head under his cap could wipe the scowl off his face.

The other regulars at the table were happily chatting away as more non-regular members slinked up to the regular table, probably yet again to congratulate them ("them" meaning Atobe) on their hard-fought victory over Seigaku.

He turned when he heard that the second years were in fact not kneeling to kiss Atobe's fingertips (he smiled a bit when he saw the clear shock and dismay on Atobe's face as the juniors passed right by him) but were actually congratulating the other regulars.

"Oshitari-senpai! Congratulations on your match! I was inspired by how you kept your cool to whip out that great comeback against Momoshiro!"

Oshitari plastered a cocky smirk on his face that surprisingly rivaled even Atobe's and eloquently thanked the underclassmen. Shishido had to suppress a laugh when he saw the juniors notice Mukahi's irked face and how they, now flustered, tried to congratulate the steaming red-head next to Oshitari,

"Uhhh…. Your match was good too Mukahi-senpai! Moon salute and acrobatics are looking solid as always!"

"Yeah! It was almost as swift and smooth as Seigaku's Kikumaru's!" The other junior realized his mistake as an enraged Mukahi lunged out of his seat, trying in vain to claw the fleeing juniors' faces off as a chuckling Oshitari restrained him down.

Eventually, more members started to approach the table and congratulate all of the other regulars… except Shishido.

His face grew darker as he slowly noticed every single regular getting a congratulatory remark. Heck even Jiro got one and he hadn't even played at all! And what was the point of praising Kabaji anyways? All he could do was awkwardly "Usu" at it all.

His train of thought was interrupted by his silver-headed partner who had that lame worried look on his face again.

"Ummm… Shishido-san. I think you played great yesterday even in the high humidity! I wish I could have the stamina to run around the court like that even during tiebreak!"

Shishido blushed at the compliment and offered a lame "Uhhh... thanks?" in reply. Regardless, he started to feel much better and felt his annoyance begin to subside; alas, it was soon to end as the Hyotei regulars pounced at this all too perfect opportunity to prey on their dash specialist.

"Awwww that's so cute. Otori comes loyally to his sulking master's side to try to kiss his wound better." Oshitari slyly drawled as Atobe quite uncharacteristically snorted and Otori quickly looked away and turned a deep red.

"Really Shishido. Pouting that nobody's come to kiss up to you yet? Gekidasa Daze…" Mukahi eyes gleamed as he saw Shishido twitch at hearing his trademark phrase defiled and hurled back at him.

"Yeah well at least I actually had the skills to win my match! Against one of the best doubles team in the nation nonetheless! Not like some loser who only had empty trash-talk without anything to back it up." Shishido grinned as he saw Mukahi frown at his retaliation.

"You know what the chance of you losing this match is? 100%." he continued to mock. "Geez. How lame!"

Otori laughed as yet again Shishido-san and Mukahi-senpai went at their typical quarreling. Atobe on the otherhand, began to tsk at the embarrassingly lack of class the Hyotei regulars were exhibiting today (not that he thought any of them honestly could match up to his own elegance anyways…). He looked up from his coffee (Overpriced of course. How could you expect him to settle for less?) and turned to Otori.

"You know, he doesn't show it but he appreciates your approval far more than anybody else, regular or not, on this team. And I would dare say that includes Ore-sama as well." He took a sip from his coffee as Oshitari pitched in as well, now devoid of a conversational partner who had just accepted Shishido's challenge of "taking it outside".

"He just gets hilariously flustered and his simple mind doesn't know how to respond." he coolly remarked.

Otori smiled at his senpai's consoling comments.

"I know senpai-tachi. Oh how I know all too well…"

Atobe and Oshitari started to feel very uneasy as the grinning junior across from them began to eerily resemble an all too well-known tensai from Seigaku…


	5. Pre Practice

Not much to say this time! Rev./Fol./Fav and enjoy as always!

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5: Pre-Practice

"Hey uhh… Choutarou. Do you have a quick second?"

Otori turned from his locker to his senior who was looking a bit more tense than usual (of course he could always notice). Steeling himself for what he anticipated to be an uncomfortable conversation, he slowly replied,

"Uhh. Yeah. Sure. What is it?"

The senior took a not so subtle gulp and continued, "I was just thinking about our inducement formation you know..."

"Is there a problem? Have I not been up to your expectations?" Otori hastily interrupted, a clearly worried look on his face at the possibility that he had disappointed his favorite senpai.

"No no! It's not that! It's just… I was thinking of ways to make it better and I thought we could switch our positions since you're a better volleyer and I'm more of a baseliner."

"But it has a stronger psychological effect when I'm in the back. I mean… no offense Shishido-san but I am a significant amount taller than you so…"

"But see that would be even better if you charged up to the net in front of the opponents' faces!" The dash specialist persisted.

Otori opened his mouth to respond but at that moment the other regulars entered the locker rooms and began joining in the conversation they just missed.

"Whaddya guys talkin' about?!" Mukahi interjected, amused at Shishido's slight jump at the loud remark.

Sensing an impending flood of innuendos and humiliation should he reveal the conversation topic (especially with Oshitari standing there practically waiting to prey at his slightest slip-up), Shishido quickly tried to formulate a lie.

"Uhhh… nothing! I was just going over some formations with Choutarou before our first match at the Nationals!" Shishido smiled at his clever and quick thinking. He even told the truth to boot!

Sadly life was not to be so kind today and he had to resist the urge to punch himself in the face when Atobe immediately smirked and stared intensely at Shishido's eyes.

"You cannot fool Ore-sama's insight." He began… "You may think you smoothly delivered that lie but Ore-sama noticed your subtle stutter."

Shishido visibly tensed even more as Oshitari joined their captain in side-by-side Chesire grins.

"Ahh… I see. Discussing something embarrassing no doubt." The tensai gauged. He had to resist the urge to fist pump in triumph, an undoubtedly extremely uncharacteristic gesture for himself, when Shishido looked away in defeat.

Jiro, awakened at hearing the chance to embarrass his friend, excitedly added in, "OOOOH! WERE YOU FINALLY CONFESSING RYOU?!"

Had it not been for the innumerable times Jiro had already teased him about this whole "confessing and feelings" ordeal, Shishido would've been embarrassed but he just growled and was about to reply when Mukahi did so for him,

"Haha yeah right! Ryou can't even suck it up and tell Otori that he wants to be in the back for their "special" formation"

Shishido sent a death glare at the chipper red-head. He should've figured Gakuto would always find a way to always use his words against him at the worst possible time.

Shishido jumped a bit again when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Shishido-san…. You've been meaning to ask me this for a while now?"

"WHAT? No! Gakuto just meant that… uhh…."

"Shishido-san… I don't want you to ever feel like you can't talk about anything with me… But as for the formation, I think it's best that we just practice it as it is now until nationals." Otori smiled and began to walk out to the courts.

Shishido ignored the screeching "HA! I KNEW IT!" from the far-too-excited redhead and tried in vain to protest,

"But! Uhh…"

Otori turned with what Shishido noticed as a slightly cunning grin on his face.

"Don't worry Shishido-san. Maybe on a free day I'll let you try being in the back; it actually is a lot of fun. Now, shall we go?"

A small silence enveloped the locker room before all chaos broke loose.

"OOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHH! RYOU JUST GOT THE LAW LAID DOWN ON HIM!"

"Begging to be on top. How tacky. Naa Kabaji?"

"Usu"

"Gekokujyou…."

Shishido just gaped as he saw his best friend slyly slink away to the courts, leaving him behind to the vicious pack of wolves that were his relentless teammates.


End file.
